Welcome to Bimmerfest -- The #1 Online Community for BMW related information! Please enjoy the discussion forums below and share your experiences with the 200,000 current, new and past BMW owners. The forums are broken out by car model and into other special interest sections such as BMW European Delivery and a special forum to voice your questions to the many BMW dealers on the site to assist our members!

E39 (1997 - 2003) The BMW 5-Series (E39 chassis) was introduced in the United States as a 1997 model year car and lasted until the 2004 when the E60 chassis was released. The United States saw several variations including the 525i, 528i, 530i and 540i. -- View the E39 Wiki

View Poll Results: Would you be interested in a Brake Caliper Upgrade?

This one item has bothered me for some time. I know there are a lot of people that are perfectly happy with the performance of the OEM brakes on their E39's, but I do believe there is performance to be gained over the OEM single piston setup.

I'm hoping I don't have to rehash the benefits of a multi-piston caliper, but in short:

Of course, the limiting factor is always price. We often have to buy a kit that includes new (though larger) rotors, brake lines, brackets, etc. I would love to have the option to just upgrade the calipers to offer a reasonable upgrade in performance.

As an automotive "enthusiast", I know that it's often times more economical to purchase a pre-built kit and not always beneficial to "upgrade" components that "work", but I cannot abide.

To that end...I've began discussions with a vendor that is a supporter of this forum to begin an R&D project.

The goals are simple:

a) Discern what manufactured calipers to use (e.g. Willwood,etc.)

b) Manufacture the appropriate brackets to adapt said calipers.

This post is meant to be a discussion on the topic as well as a poll to see how many enthusiasts would be interested in this upgrade.

Your car brakes fine with OEM setup. Unless you drag race the car, you don't need 2,000+ $ brakes.
ECS had a good promotion on big brakes kit a little while ago, if you still want to change the brakes.
But all you will accomplish is aesthetics only. And higher price of rotors & pads when you will have to replace them.

I guess I'm one of the few but I would definitely appreciate some bigger brakes on this car. While the OEM brakes seem to work just fine, I would love to have some bigger brakes to make it feel more comfortable slowing/stopping at high speeds.

Take a newer 335i. The front calipers/pads seem almost twice the size of the ones on my car and the car is without a doubt a lighter car. The large calipers/pads come on sport model 335i I believe.

You haven't mentioned the problems you're having with your OEM setup. Are you looking for shorter braking distance at high speeds, less heat build-up, etc.? Forget the looks for a minute. Mechanically, what are you looking to improve preformance-wise?

With my backlog of deferred maintenance on my bimmer, I am in awe of those who have everything fixed up to date, and they then can contemplate performance upgrades!

I wish I was more like you!

__________________

Please read the suggested threads, where the best always add value to those threads, either by pictures or by descriptions, so the next person with the same problem stands on your shoulders.
See also: E39 Bestlinks & How to easily find what you need

There is nothing inherently "wrong" with the OEM setup. It works fine when in good repair, but once you've experienced higher performance vehicles with higher performing brakes (yes...monoblock-type setups with 4 or 6 or 8 pistons) then you realize how limited these brakes really are. Any significant increase in power brings you closer to the threshold of that limit. I know I don't drive a 500hp beast, but there is absolutley nothing wrong with taking each area of our "Sport Sedans" to their zenith.

My goal has always been to maintain my cars to the utmost and when possible improve the function (and form) as I see fit.

There are brackets widely available for E36's and E46's that enable owners to adapt a wide array of mulit-piston calipers to suit there needs. I want the ability to do the same.

Because of an unfortunate string of events at my workplace resulting in a Federal trial and alot of spare time on my hands, I recently drove several thousand miles in my 540, at the end of which I realized I had driven the last segment with a frozen caliper L front. Yes, I pulled the trigger on the ECS BBK deal {what the hell else would a E39 guy do, huh? I was Powerless, I`m tellin ya!!!}
Anyways, aesthetics, :thumbup Performance difference for street, like others here say

BTW, if anyone out there gets the BMW BBK kit, be prepared; it comes mounted with the bracket for the 1 and 3 series that has to be removed. the 10mm Hex bolts were a bitch; 2 guys holding the caliper and 1 on the wrench with a cheater pipe, they were in there.

If its under 1000 bux... i would be interested. But I would not be surprised if you actually lost interest in this project and went with ECS tuning kit. Its ridiculous for any aftermarket set up your trying to do to these cars without shelling out TONS of money. My radiator took a crap the other day (10 years of service, not bad) and i was thinking of going with aluminum set up. 600 bux + shipping? Not going to happen, while for my buddy's car, eagle talon, he payed 130 some bux for all aluminum radiator shipped to his door. I just went with Nissen radiator (120 bux) cause its not worth shelling out that kind of money...

That does virtually nothing to address the "pluses" highlighted in my original post. The M5 system, while still effective , is just a bigger version of the OEM system.

If I'm going to updgrade the suspension, engine and interior, then I sure as **** want to get the best out of my brakes.

BTW...brakes that are "adequate" at 230hp are less so at 330hp (supercharger) and, if that LSX Swap ever happens, even less so at 400,500 or 600 hp (Maybe I'm day-dreaming there).

Like I said...Similar options exist for E36's and E46's. I just want the same option for the E39.

I am not debating the benefits of such an upgrade, but I question the relationship between hp and braking ability. It's a mass (weight) to speed ratio that determines the efficiency of the braking system. If one wants to stop a 4000 lb car going 100 mph, it doesn't matter how fast you arrived at 100 mph.

I am not debating the benefits of such an upgrade, but I question the relationship between hp and braking ability. It's a mass (weight) to speed ratio that determines the efficiency of the braking system. If one wants to stop a 4000 lb car going 100 mph, it doesn't matter how fast you arrived at 100 mph.

The relationship is not directly with horsepower, but better brakes can always help get a driver out of trouble because of it. Of course...it doesn't hurt to learn how to drive, either.